“The bass driver is ribbed for extra pleasure”… cracked me up Steve! 🤣

I can't stress enough how much I enjoy listening to you talking about your music listening, bands, albums, experiences, and backstories. Your enthusiasm is not only compelling but contagious! Please, indulge more often in them and at lengthier snippets :)

OMG I've been waiting for you to review these for years now! Thank you!!

I got these around black Friday for $240 a pair. Love them! I use them with an NAD 326bee. The 326 has the ability to add a dedicated pre-amp so I may eventually get something better, even if it's just an Emotiva BasX PT1. I have audiophile ears but not the budget so it's a work in progress. Thanks for the review.

I spit out my coffee at the "ribbed for added pleasure" reference 😁

Thank you for another informative review, Steve; You have great style.

The legend of JBL continues. I Bought these a couple of months ago for $240.00. You can't possibly go wrong with them. Running them through a Parasound Z Amp and Z Pre Amp and a Marantz CD 5003 player. Everything from Sinatra to Miles, The Beatles to Zeppelin to Ella sounds fantastic on them. These are a steal for that price. Great review Steve.

Steve, i have followed you since your early days at CNET and i have trusted your recommendations. I love to see you are still passionate about your love of music and how all of this constantly changing technology allow us to discover and enjoy.

Love these speakers. I have two pairs of 530’s, a pair of 570’s, and a pair of 580’s! Oh, also the center channel and two of the Studio 5 subs. I guess you can say I am a JBL fan.

Have these too…. And added a Klipsch sub through the Outlaw RR2160MKII integrated amp ( which you recommended)… never looked back as someone who needed an affordable option. Thanks Steve

Thank you for your superb review of this interesting JBL speaker! It is always nice to hear an educated gentleman like you, talk about highly important things in life, like the necessaty of a good 2 channel hifi system :-)... In the future, it would also be nice if you could review the little brother, of a sort, to the acclaimed JBL Synthesis HDI-1600, in form of the JBL Studio 630. Kind regards and may God bless you, best Steve!

My studio 590's with two 550p 50lb sealed subs kick Ass for the money! I've literally gone to the Design center at Magnolia listened to $30,000 systems come home and preferred mine and had no reason to think I was biased. My wife thinks the same thing!😜

I just built a Nutube B1 preamp and I'll check out the 530s in that setup. They'll go up against my JBL 6x6 waveguide/LE8TH woofer and QSC waveguide/123A-1 woofer Econowaves. Enjoyed the video.

Awesome as always ❤. Thank you very much 😊

Mine came today. Can’t wait to listen 🔊 👂

I honestly am not sure if you took the time to hook them up, the review was so safe, along with the Comparison to the RPs. If you listen you will be surprised. Love your Videos Steve !!!

The magnet on the bas driver is quite substantial and it is a long throw driver, how it moves air so well JBL says. But that horn! Some kind of magic going on with that compression driver design. I swap them into my system with LS50s for fun. Really satisfying sound. Tempted to buy the larger similar models but my Kef sub satisfies my need for bass so I turn it on and off accordingly.

Owner of 2 pair here. Love the sound and still find myself amazed at just how good the 530's are. They are sitting up front right beside the 590's and more often than not I choose to hear the 530's. Anybody else here just love the look as much as I do? Steve hinted at it himself. After looking at these most other speakers are just uninteresting rectangles!

Got the smaller studio monitors. Such terrific speakers for desktop use 👍

My own pair of 530s arrived mere days after my Tekton Double Impact SEs left my home. I liked the sound from the little (by comparison) JBLs that I never even missed my Double Impacts. Also love that Mulholland Drive soundtrack (and movie) too.

Thanks, Steve! Nothing like those ribbed woofer cones!!

Woah, vintage coax JBL’s? Those are freakin sweet! I would love to hear those…

"ten years after" was a pretty awesome band!

I have the 590, 580 and 530. You analysis is spot on

Steve, your aside about the Klipschorn system you heard reminds me of my own experience with them. A friend had a one system that has always stayed with me: a pair of Klipschorns, driven by a Don Garber 2A3 stereo amplifier, i don't remember the source, but at the time it probably would have been CDs. The sound was dynamic, expansive alive and musical- with no sense of compression. They sounded just as you described.

great review,lets see a review of one of those jbl floor models from this series.

Love the shirt! And the speakers!

Boom! I have a pair! Totally agree with your experience. I swap them out with my Acoustic Energy AE 2's. If you recall, the AE2's sold for about $2000 in 1993. That would be around $4000 today. Obviously totally different sounds. Great review.

I use a pair in my main system, I agree with everything you say about these speakers. I had a Klipsch 600M, is what got me hooked to cheaper monitors, JBL 530 sound more transparent to me, I hear the horns on the Klipsch where as the JBL has ZERO horn sound. The effortlessness and openness of the JBLs is just captivating. I am someone who believes front end matters more than speakers and this plays right into my narrative, better the components upstream better it sounds. Still to this day, almost a year later, continues to amaze me.

Hi Steve. Long time follower and fan. Thanks for all that you do. I own these. Very happy with them. I have been wondering why you haven't reviewed them. I purchased two pair and the matching center channel for my home theatre/primary listening system. I love them so much I bought another set for my office. I chose the Marantz NR 1609 as it offers a pre out front L/R so I can play with different amps for stereo listening. I have really enjoyed the setup.

I just picked up a mint set of 530's and a 520c for $300, I was stoked for this to be my first step into hi fidelity and I'm sitting in front of them now just grinning.

thanks for your review. Just pull the trigger on a pair of refurb for $200. I have my eyes on this for a long time.

You have to love a reviewer who gets excited about $400 speakers! It's called a love of music! The previous model Klipsch RP 600s are available, last I saw, for 3-400ish. Note to self, watch the Audiophiliac for the music Steve listens to. With Quobuz now, it's so easy to check out new tunes! Steve, you reminded me of a trip to Vegas with my parents when I was 12. We went to see Tom Jones. A good story, we saw Tom and his manager walking near the pool area and Tom's manager took a picture with our Polaroid of Tom with his arms around the family. Totally gracious people. It was a nervous minute waiting for the photo to develop.

My friends and I all have JBL Studio series speakers. I have the 580, but but the group as a whole has several pairs of the whole range. We all love them! They are often on sale, so never pay full price. 530 is often $250 a pair, 580 $600 a pair, 590 $8-900 a pair. They like power. Something like Schiit Vidar will do very well.

Pianos! (12'30'') are so often processed in rock/pop. The naturalness of Glenn Gould's piano in his recordings at Columbia's studio, New York and (even better) Eaton's Auditorium are stunning. Particluarly the '81 digital recording of 'Goldberg' on a Yamaha! (after someone dropped his Steinway..!)

Got them paired up with my sx1250 in my bedroom and it sounds amazing to me. 👍

Cool and different looking speaker. 😎

Great review Steve 👍 If you like traditional jazz then take a listen to Maria Muldaur Let's Get Happy Together where she teams up with the street band Tuba Skinny, amazing muscicians.

The Studio 570 are also incredible I'm understanding, the "floor standing" version of the Studio 530.

I love JBL speakers i really do, for a long time i would go to a movie theater that had JBL´s, and i never heard a better sound in any other theater. That made a so much big impression that my first surround sound home system had to be JBL, i still have them from the late 90´s and they sound as good as ever (JBL SCS 178). I changed the system a few times for other brands, but never considered those changes as an upgrade comparing to the original JBL system. A few years ago i bought another JBL home surround system, a soundbar with sub. The JBL Bar Surround 5.1 with detachable speakers, and the sound it produces was amazing, but unfortunately it did not last long, all the system connects via wireless signal, and it works so bad that in time it stopped working at all. I cannot connect the sub to the bar anymore, there is no way to pair them, and the detachable speakers sometimes fail also. So i ended up with a soundbar that i can not connect a wired sub, because there are no wired connections, just HDMI. The customer care is awful, at least for me it was. So my advise is, buy JBL, i still love their sound, but never buy anything from them that doesn't have wired connections. I believe most of the subscribers may not be the right demographic for this info, but it was/is my experience and i decided to share it.

I got lucky. I got my Studio 530 for $277 delivered directly from JBL during a %50 off sale a tear and a half ago. Love them

I'm loving my pair of JBL Studio 620. Got them 20% off. These are a pair I can live with long term. Fantastic sound. Nice and balanced sound. Not too bright at the top end. Excellent instrument separation. These replaced my Klipsch RP-500M, which were giving me listening fatigue, and Monitor Audio Bronze 2, which are bright. And the finish on Studio 620's are superb.

I have these paired with a Denon amp. Sounds great.

Just one thing to say today Steve: what a freakin' wonderfull and colourfull shirt 👌👍 ✌️❤️🇩🇰

Nice to see some low-midfi stuff Steve. Keep up the great work!

I bought my pair for $280 shipped. And its the best 280 I have ever spent.

At one time I used 2425 drivers on 2397 horns in a PA system. Usually 4 way. Sweet top end, of course. 80's were fun.

Loved your shirt!

Nice 👍 review as Ever STEVE ✨💎🙏🏼

Just a few thoughts Steve. First wanted to share how by chance I heard some Louis Armstrong through my new 530s a couple years ago and was so memorized by the sound of his trumpet it began a deep dive into his works. So satisfying! Secondly thanks for being so eclectic and non-judgmental with the viewer systems you share. I always seem to learn something from them. And lastly I'm hoping you are have a blast of a summer!

I own the 590's after first learning about these. Love my 590's. I also have the 520C center. Excellent! JBL'S STUDIO line is fantastic, and very hard to beat. I'm mad that he said that the Klipsch rp-600s are better than the 530s. Strongly doubt it.

I got seriously into Angelo Badalamenti back in the Twin peaks Tv series days. Phenomenal composer.

So glad you reviewed one of my favorite budget speakers ! I have a pop the hood video posted of 530s/580s (review) fiberglass tweeter and Paper cone driver with polyplast coating 😆 Thanks Steve Appricate you buddy Personally i like better than Klispch RP

Hey Steve , as someone who has made lot of different speakers and enjoys your reviews if this model had double woofers would be so much better. I have used many jbl products in my pro audio days and admire the engineering and quality..

I got mine from JBL and with my one time discount for $188. There is a Bonnie and Delaney from Copenhagen on KZfaq with Eric Clapton, George Harrison and the rest of the Mad Dogs and Englishman band with Bobby Whitlock instead of Leon Russell.

I listened to these and found that they are another bookshelf that requires a sub. Actually two subs to be balanced. At that point a set of Herersy’s or JBL L100 would sound a lot better and take up the same space. I don’t get Bookshelves but I grew up with big box speakers and still have them.

Very nice, how would they compare to a traditional box like Bowers & Wilkins 606 S2 Anniversary Edition. Keep up the great work. 👍

You are listening to amazing speakers with the world's greatest shirt on.

I got a pair for $290, a bit bright but I really do love them. Currently paired with a Jeff Rowland Model 10

Here I am again, with my A.R.E.S. Alpha 10 I got a few years ago for 15€, looking at speakers I probably can't afford the next couple of years, be they budget oriented like his or not. Still entertaining!

Hi Steve, I have the Denon pma 1600ne and if the pma1700 sounds anything like the 1600 then I know exactly what you are talking about. I think it would be fun to match the Technics amp with the right speakers though. I would love to hear it as a very, very long time ago I had the Technics SU-V4 and it was a really good sounding amp, and as far as Technics amps went in those days-it was all down hill for a long time after that.

Cool shirt!

Excellent. I'm also using the Denon PMA-600NE pre-amped with an Aiyima Tube-pro A3. I'm in a 10 x 10 home office with these things, and I can't go pass 6 on the volume knob, as it would explode my head and collapse my chest. The paramedics would be super pissed off at me (or whoever would have to clean up such a mess). Anyway, great review. It's nice to be validated with respect to gear selections and the like. My future amp is probably going to be the Rotel A12 to push these things (or some kind of a NAD 3-ish series something or another). These JBLs are impressive for picking them up for $239.00 during the last big sale. My LP setup is the Audio-Technica LP40WN with a VML-540ML head-shell/stylus pre-amped with a Fosi Box X4. It's an amazing set-up that keeps me in analogue land for most of my listening time. Thanks for all you do, Steve.

Need an in depth, current review of the Outlaw Audio RR2160 MKii if possible. These speakers seem like a good match for it but there doesn't seem to be much current info on the MKii.

Hey man! Outta sight!

No Problem - Steve! Many Thanks then till fate offers me another means to send back LOVE :)

I just bought a pair today 11/14/22 direct from the JBL website for $249.00 I didn’t need them but at that price I couldn’t resist. I bought the Studio 570 a year or so ago that were about 60% off regular price as well.

Your shirt brings me back to my LSD days (mid 70's)

Great Shirt!

I bought the bigger brothers of those. The 580's sound big and I love them. 600$ on sale !

So, Steve with the Klipsch Horn teaser- when do you review the Jubilee?

I just a pair a few months ago to go with my Studio 570’s .

Would be cool if u can find and test some 590's I bought them in a sale for 500€ a piece so good investment! I use advance acoustic map-105 and 2 maa-705!

Best shirt yet. Dan Flashes?

Love the shirt

I feel that JBL is back and beginning to out-Klipsch Klipsch. I love the old JBL sound. Now, all they need to do is improve the finishes and quality assurance.

This speakers will be good to listen classical music or jazz?

Listening to them right now.

I have a pair and I have $20,000 speakers I still love the jbl more

I have the studio 230 which is somewhat similar, but now discontinued. I like it overall, although there is a certain frequency that is a little edgy at times with female voices. I think it is to do with the horn. It is otherwise a good speaker and not as bright as you might imagine.

Hi Steve. What else was in the system Driving those Klipschorns that you liked? Looked impressive.

I got the x-tra pleasure mention.

No other speaker has that effortless, dynamic, and immediate perfromer in your room sound that the Klipschorns and La Scalas have, not even the Cornwalls and Fortes, IMO

We’ll…if those speakers underperformed in any way, I am sure they were lifted by the performance of your shirt! 👕😎👍🏼

Steve, I bet they would be a good fit with the Emotiva BasX TA1. ($397.63 at Amazon today.)

im choosing between the Micca RB42s, Emotiva B1s, Polk ES15, Fluance Signature, and these. idk which one to get because they all are tempting

On my shipment they ran out and gave me 570's for the same price shipped. I have all the studio series exept these. Id say the room size and amp configuration makes the biggest difference. They all love tons of power , id say the 590 sound the best and require the least power. I challenge any speaker to sound as good as the 590 for 800$

The Dark Knight of speakers! Batman!!

Do you you think a marantz 2220B handle this speaker?

Yes finally 🎉

SO then it is more correctly called a midtweet than a tweeter?

I would have bought these on the spot, but they haven't been in any stores in my country since 2016.

Have you thought about the JBL 590/580/570?

I actually preferred these to LS50. Totally different sound of course. The other speaker 🔊 out there that is a mind blowing value is the Tekton Lore.

“And it is ribbed, the driver is, for extra pleasure.”

I don’t know why the studio 570 is hardly ever reviewed. I have the 530’s 570’s and the 580’s. The 570’s is by far the most impressive. Yes the 530’s is everything you have said however I must stress that the 570’s that sometimes can be had for just over $400 on sale and are really much more of a speaker than the 530 and you don’t need stands. I think you should give them a try.

Can't find them anywhere for sale here in the Netherlands. Don't see them on JBL's website either. Discontinued?

Do they still build them ???

Rib for extras pleasure! Good one Steve!

86db is not low for sensitivity for a 5 1/4 2-way if you want any bass at all and very close to the klipsch real numbers. Street price is more like $200.